Dubai: West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, who is considered one of the finest Twenty20 cricketer in the world revealed that he wanted to look sexy for girls and is today paying the price for ignoring the pain in his knee.
Russell, who was here as an invitee by Zurich Middle East for their Cricket Sixes tournament at the Sevens Stadium, had some crucial advice to youngsters who want to make it to the top in cricket. “Those who want to be another Russell should never do what happened to me," he said. "When I was 23 or 24 I began to get knee pain," he said. "If I had someone tell me: 'Look Russ, you should get your knee stronger by keep doing these simple exercises,' I would have been pain free from my knees and hopefully I wouldn’t have to have had surgery. Unfortunately, at 23 you are fearless, and I used to ignore that pain and I always gave it a quick fix by taking pain killers and kept running.
"By the time I reached my late twenties I started feeling the pain like I never felt before. The wear and tear began to show up. If I was doing those strengthening exercises like training of the legs and doing the right things, I would have been fitter.”
Russell then revealed where he went wrong and what they should not do. “I want the youngsters to know that guys should not just think about the upper body alone," he explained. "I used to go to gym and just work only on my abs and my shoulders because I wanted to look sexy for the girls. At the end of the day being sexy and then your legs being weak, don’t work. So it is very important to have a complete work out of the body. I could have done more wonders had I worked on my legs too.
"I have been struggling with my knees and I cannot really get to do what I want to do in the middle but still I can stand and hit the balls for fours and sixes.”